[Effects of a brief couples therapy intervention in coronary rehabilitation. A controlled study]

The effects of a brief couple therapy intervention in cardiac rehabilitation was investigated in a randomised controlled trial. The treating physician and a psychologist conducted an intervention of two to four sessions with 19 patients with coronary diseases at the IIa stage according to WHO and their partners. The 21 patients in the control group received standard care with no additional intervention. Depressive symptoms, global self-rating of health status and disease related concerns were assessed at the beginning of training and nine months later. Patients in the experimental group more often stated to feel better immediately after the intervention. Over the observation period they showed significantly more favour-able changes in observer rated depressive symptoms, self-rated health status and concerns. Patients and partners in the experimental group assessed the outcome of rehabilitation significantly more positive after nine months. The findings suggest that a very short couple therapy intervention, which can be administered in routine care, can have positive effects in cardiac out-patient rehabilitation. Larger studies are required for testing whether the effects of such interventions are restricted to depressive symptoms and subjective appraisals, or whether other outcome criteria such as mortality can also be influenced.